Posted at 9:05 a.m., Saturday, May 5, 2007
Manchester United closes in on Premier League title
Associated Press
LONDON -- Manchester United took a big step toward winning the Premier League title for the first time since 2003 by beating Manchester City 1-0 today on Cristiano Ronaldo's 33rd-minute penalty kick.
United has 88 points and can win the championship Sunday if two-time defending champion Chelsea fails to beat Arsenal. Chelsea has 80 points.
"Hopefully we get the result we want," United manager Alex Ferguson said.
Ronaldo was brought down in the penalty area by Michael Ball, who had gone unpunished for stomping on Ronaldo's chest two minutes into the game.
City missed a chance to tie the score when it was awarded an 80th-minute penalty after Ball was brought down by Wes Brown. United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar blocked Darius Vassell's kick with his leg, and the defense scrambled to clear the ball. City also failed on a penalty kick a week ago in a 2-0 loss to visiting Aston Villa.
U.S. midfielder DaMarcus Beasley had a chance for City in the 29th, but his shot from outside the box was saved by Van der Sar. Beasley was taken off in the 61st for Trevor Sinclair.
Manchester City has only 10 goals in 19 home games -- the lowest ever in England's top division. In 1913, Arsenal scored only 11 goals, and Sunderland matched that in 2003.
"We've not achieved where we'd like to achieve and our Achilles' heel has been putting the ball in the net," City manager Stuart Pearce said.
Man United and Chelsea were ousted in the Champions League semifinals during the week, but play each other in the FA Cup final May 19. Chelsea already has won the League Cup.
U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey scored in Fulham's 1-0 win over Liverpool, which reached the Champions League final Tuesday. Dempsey, who came on as a second-half substitute, scored in the 69th after an exchange with Liam Rosenior. It was his first goal for Fulham this season in his 11th game.
Brian McBride, also Dempsey's teammate on the U.S. squad, missed a chance to give Fulham the lead in the 15th when he failed to control a cross from Philippe Christanval.
Former U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel helped Blackburn shut out Newcastle 2-0, with U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu heading a corner over Friedel's bar. Onyewu made his first start since April 4.
West Ham moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Bolton, helped by Wigan's 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough.
Carlos Tevez scored twice and set up Mark Noble for the other, a day after five Premier League clubs threatened legal action to penalize West Ham for breaking Premier League regulations by signing Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
